Once Upon a Lazy Sunday
by Peaches the First
Summary: Short and Sweet. A one-shot look at Wheeler and Linka's relationship. Rated for refrence to child abuse, but nothing graphic. r/r!


Once Upon a Lazy Sunday . . .   
by Peaches  
A/N: A one shot deal at Linka and Wheeler's (who else?) relationship, and why she constantly shoots him down. r/r, please. PG-13 for indication of child abuse.  
This, he assured himself, was much better then Brooklyn.  
  
Wheeler stretched out on the grassy knoll and sighed. Linka lay in line with him, her head resting next to his, her body sprawled out in the opposite direction. Both rested lazily in the spring sun, nothing better to do then watch the clouds roll by in the light sapphire sky that Sunday afternoon. Kwame was in his garden, Gi was by the water, tending to the coral garden she'd started, and Ma-Ti was in the crystal chamber with Gaia.  
  
Wheeler rested his hands behind his head and sighed again. Now, he knew what people meant when they said that this was the life.  
  
"What's wrong?" Linka asked him. Wheeler lay there puzzled for a moment.  
  
"Nothing," he assured her. "Why?"  
  
"You keep sighing," she informed him. Wheeler shrugged, though she couldn't see him.   
  
"Just relaxing," he exhaled. "Why?" he asked impishly. "Worried?"  
  
"Hardly," she snorted, teasing the redhead right back. "Just, if you die of suffocation, or something, they'll all blame me."   
  
"Are you saying they have a reason to believe you'd choke me?" he asked gleefully, his accent colouring his words playfully.  
  
"No . . . " Linka said conspicuously. "Of course not . . . " She laughed when he tossed a handful of grass at her blindly, completely missing her by about a foot. Both lay in a thoughtful silence for a moment.  
  
"What do you have against me?" Wheeler asked finally, breaking the silence abruptly.  
  
"As little as possible," Linka murmured sleepily. Wheeler grinned at that.  
  
"Seriously," he asked, catching Linka off-guard. He hardly, if ever, took anything really seriously.  
  
"I have nothing against you," she reassured him, wondering what in the world he was getting on with. Wheeler could barely keep a conversation going for more then five minutes. And, in the whole time she'd known him, they'd never talked this deep, at least not while they were alone.   
  
"Yeah, you do," he protested. "I can never get close to you, 'cause you always pull away."  
  
"You mean physically?" Linka asked. "Or emotionally?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"I don't," Linka insisted, though her voice lacked conviction. Now, the silence was more skeptic. Finally, Linka caved in, glad there was no one to witness the moment of weakness. "Okay," she allowed, "Maybe I do."  
  
"You know you do!" Wheeler persisted. "I just wanna know why."  
  
"I can't get close to men," Linka confided quietly, almost whispering, though there was no one within a mile of them. "I never could."  
  
"Why not?" Wheeler asked gently, his interest genuinely sparked. Now, it was Linka's turn to sigh.  
  
"I guess . . . I guess my papa scared me away from them," she admitted. "Made me think they were all violent, or like I was . . . immoral if I dated. I was only ever allowed to have friends who were girls when I was growing up." Thankful Wheeler couldn't see her, she let a tear trickle sideways from her eye, along the side of her cheek, finally resting after it marked a path down her neck. An old scar on her back seemed to sting a little out of pure memory.   
  
"My old man was harsh, too," Wheeler told her softly, hoping to comfort her somewhat, after all, everyone has parent-problems. "I was never good enough for him."  
  
"I felt really guilty when he died," Linka confessed, "because I didn't feel like crying." She sniffed, hoping Wheeler would let it go unacknowledged. He did. "I finally felt safe."  
  
"You think I'll be like that?" Wheeler asked, not offended, just surprised. His mother had taught him better then to hit a woman, or anyone, for that matter, unless it was in self-defence.  
  
"No," Linka said quickly. "I just . . . I don't know. I just can't get close to anyone." Wheeler nodded, once again realizing Linka couldn't see him.   
  
"I understand," he said, only slightly disappointed, now that he knew why she acted the way she did toward him. "When will you be ready to?"  
  
She thought for a moment, then sat up, wiping away the tear stain quickly. Wheeler, sensing her movement, sat up as well. She faced him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.  
  
"I'll let you know," she promised. With that, she stood up and walked down the hill.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
A/N: Everyone together, now . . . Awwwww! Well, there you go, short and sweet. r/r, kindly! Love 'n' cookies, ~Peaches 


End file.
